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August 8, 2011

Schadenfreude 117 (A Continuing Series)

The Yankees might have to face the facts: this just doesn't seem to be their year against the Red Sox. ...

[T]he Yankees [were] three outs from their first series win of the season against Boston, but Mariano Rivera blew a one-run lead in the ninth, suffering his fifth blown save of the season. ...

The Red Sox have now won 10 of 12 from the Yankees this season, capturing all four series. Boston moved one game ahead of the Yankees in the AL East, though with 49 games remaining - including six more against each other - the division is nowhere close to being decided.

The final months of Jorge Posada's 2011 season – and possibly his career – may be spent as a casual observer. ...

"He said he was going to put the best lineup on the field, and he doesn't know when I'm going to DH again," Posada said. "So right now I'm sitting on the bench." ... Posada is hitting .230 ... in 90 games this season, but he's hit only .205 with no home runs and four RBI in 26 games since July 1.

Then, Sunday afternoon, came the real knockout punch when Girardi met with Posada and informed him that, until further notice, he would be getting no DH at-bats. Girardi would not reveal how long he had been pondering this decision, but given their longtime, well-documented icy relationship, you can understand why conspiracy theorists have been quick to point out that this is the second time this year the Yankee manager has chosen to deliver embarrassing news to Posada before a nationally televised game against the Red Sox.

On Friday, after the Yankees had won the first game, Mike Vaccaro of the Post wrote that the New York victory "sure felt like it meant something". But after the Red Sox won the next two, pounding New York on Saturday and coming back against Mariano Rivera and winning in extra innings on Sunday, Vaccaro tells us that nothing has been decided. In fact:

It's also increasingly possible to see how the Yankees may well be the better of the two teams offensively.

I'm sure if Boston had won on Friday and the Yankees had stormed back to win the series, he'd be saying the exact same thing. What a clown.